We thought that the pain caused by the loss of Nyjer Morgan to the disabled list would be more than compensated for by an emerging Roger Bernadina, who went 4-for-8 in two starts at the top of the order in the Arizona series. However, manager Jim Riggleman, who clearly favors unnecessary platoons over any chance at establishing consistency, thought that Bernadina would be at a disadvantage going against left-handed starters (Clayton Kershaw and Ted Lilly) in the Dodgers series and started the right-handed-hitting, underperforming Justin Maxwell in center instead.

After a promising start to the weekend (a 4-1 win on Friday night), the Nationals dropped back-to-back games to the Cardinals in all too familiar fashion: Back-to-back 6-0 losses to the best team in baseball, and consecutive no-shows by the Nats’ bats. Saturday, the Nats had no answer for the previously struggling Jason Marquis, managing just two hits. Yesterday they collected just four hits and two walks. It all adds up to another series’ loss…